Rudy Giuliani's 2026 Hospitalization: What We Know So Far

Editor's note (Oct 4, 2026): This article was republished on Oct 4, 2026 based on AP/ABC reporting from May 2026 about Mr. Giuliani's hospitalization. It is a recap of that earlier reporting, not a new development.

Rudy Giuliani, the 81-year-old former New York City mayor and onetime personal attorney to President Donald Trump, is in critical but stable condition at a hospital, his spokesman said Sunday. The announcement ended two days of public silence about his health, though the spokesman did not say what sent him to the hospital or how long he has been there.

A Warning Sign on Friday Night

Rudy Giuliani in 2012. The former New York City mayor, 81, is in critical but stable condition, his spokesman said Sunday. (Photo: Gage Skidmore / Wikimedia Commons)

The first public hint of trouble came on Friday night, when Giuliani hosted his online show, “America’s Mayor Live,” from Palm Beach, Florida. As he opened the broadcast, he coughed repeatedly, and his voice sounded noticeably more raspy than usual.

“My voice is a little under the weather, so I won’t be able to speak as loudly as I usually do, but I’ll get closer to the microphone,” he told his audience at the start of the show, according to the Associated Press.

Spokesman Ted Goodman released a short statement on Sunday announcing the hospitalization. “Mayor Giuliani is a fighter who has faced every challenge in his life with unwavering strength, and he’s fighting with that same level of strength as we speak,” Goodman said, asking the public to join in prayer for “America’s Mayor.”

In a follow-up update, his spokesperson added that Giuliani is being monitored as a precautionary measure and is recovering from pneumonia. Goodman said the illness had at one point required mechanical ventilation, but that Giuliani is now breathing on his own, with his family and primary medical provider at his side.

Trump’s Tribute — and Political Message

President Trump weighed in on Sunday with a long social media post praising his former lawyer. “Our fabulous Rudy Giuliani, a True Warrior, and the Best Mayor in the History of New York City, BY FAR, has been hospitalized, and is in critical condition,” Trump wrote.

The president used the moment to revisit his own political grievances, writing: “What a tragedy that he was treated so badly by the Radical Left Lunatics, Democrats ALL — AND HE WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING! They cheated on the Elections, fabricated hundreds of stories, did anything possible to destroy our Nation, and now, look at Rudy. So sad!”

Giuliani’s lawyer, Joe Cammarata, also posted a message of support on X: “Pray for Rudy Giuliani. America’s Mayor needs our prayers. Rudy is tough and resilient. He is in critical condition; if anyone can pull through this it’s Rudy.”

A spokesperson for former New York City Mayor Eric Adams struck a more bipartisan note, recalling Giuliani’s years “as a federal prosecutor to leading New York City through its darkest day on 9/11,” saying he “stood with this city when it needed him most.”

From “America’s Mayor” to Trump’s Lawyer

Giuliani’s place in American political life was forged in crisis. Elected New York’s mayor in 1993 after a career as one of the nation’s highest-profile federal prosecutors — taking on mobsters and crooked Wall Street traders — he was dubbed “America’s mayor” for his leadership of New York after the September 11 attacks in 2001.

He later became Trump’s personal attorney for a time and a vocal proponent of Trump’s allegations of fraud in the 2020 election, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Trump and his backers lost dozens of lawsuits claiming fraud, and numerous recounts, reviews and audits of the election results turned up no signs of significant wrongdoing or error.

Two former Georgia elections workers later won a $148 million defamation judgment against Giuliani. As they sought to collect the judgment, the former federal prosecutor was found in contempt of court and faced a trial this winter over the ownership of some of his assets. He ultimately struck a deal that let him keep his homes and various belongings, including prized World Series rings, in exchange for unspecified compensation and a promise to stop speaking ill of the ex-election workers.

Giuliani was disbarred from practicing law in Washington, D.C., and New York for making false claims about the 2020 presidential election. Trump pardoned him last year.

A Second Hospitalization in Months

Sunday’s news marks at least the second time this year that the 81-year-old has been hospitalized. In September, Giuliani was hospitalized after suffering a fractured vertebra and other injuries in a car crash in New Hampshire.

According to his spokesman, Giuliani’s history complicates any respiratory illness: after September 11, 2001, when he ran toward the World Trade Center towers to help those in need, he was later diagnosed with restrictive airway disease. “This condition adds complications to any respiratory illness, and the virus quickly overwhelmed his body,” Goodman said, referring to restrictive lung disease — a group of conditions where the lungs can’t fully expand, according to the CDC.

Giuliani in New York City in September 2025, the same month he was hospitalized with a fractured vertebra after a car crash in New Hampshire. (Photo: Fox News)

What This Means

For a figure who has spent four decades at the center of American public life — from the U.S. Attorney’s office to City Hall on 9/11 to the Trump legal wars — even a brief silence raises alarms. At 81, with a fractured vertebra still healing and a chronic lung condition dating back to the dust of Ground Zero, Giuliani’s health is fragile.

The carefully worded updates — “critical but stable,” prayers requested, no cause initially disclosed — signaled to supporters and allies that the situation was serious enough to warrant public acknowledgment, but not so dire that the family felt the need to share more.

Politically, the episode also serves as a reminder of Giuliani’s unusual arc: once one of the most popular politicians in America, now a diminished figure whose legacy is debated as fiercely as the presidency he helped defend. Trump’s tribute leaned into that fight, tying Giuliani’s health to his own narrative of persecution.

Giuliani appearing on NBC’s Today show in November 2024. (Photo: NBC)

What Happens Next

For now, the family has asked for prayers rather than visitors, and the spokesman said Giuliani remains under close monitoring as a precaution. No further medical details have been released, and there is no announced timeline for updates.

If his condition stabilizes further, a more detailed statement — or another appearance on his online show, where he was last seen Friday — could follow. But with the family holding back specifics about what led to the hospitalization, the public picture remains what it was on Sunday: an 81-year-old “fighter,” according to those closest to him, breathing on his own and holding on.